Park Seed Garden Journal

A Peek Inside at Park Seed

Many of us here at Park Seed (especially here in the E-commerce department) don't spend much time dealing with the actual plants that we sell on a day-to-day basis.  Sure, most of us are gardeners, and all but a very few of us have plants on our desks (they ward off the crazy), but we don't get as much excuse to go out back to the greenhouses as we would like.  We certainly spend much of our days reading about these plants, but that can never really give you the best idea of the plant itself.  The written descriptions are more like the platonic ideal of the plant, and it's the real plant on this realm that we're really concerned with.

There are a few things that we do to try to balance this out, though.  During the relevant seasons, most of us go to the Garden Center about once a week (mostly to fill our own gardens).  We also have some of the most amazing trial gardens you're likely to find anywhere right here on site, and many of us visit these regularly (especially during our monthly E-Com team picnic out there in the warm months).  We try to get our friendly resident master gardeners to show us around out there some whenever we can, too.  On Flower Day each year we get to spend a whole day out there getting to know not only the plants, but our customers, too.

The absolute best chance we get for more experience with the actual plants, though, is physical inventory.  We do this twice a year, and pretty much the entire company chips in and goes out there to count, well, everything.  Most of us spend two or three days each inventory out in the plant, greenhouses, or in the open growing areas, and it's great fun.  I had the good luck to be on the live plant team this summer, and got to spend three and a half days out back playing with more plants than you could imagine.  I learn more about plants in a single day of inventory than I do in a week of my regular job, and I'm sure that it's that way for many of us.  These are, of course, just a few of the ways that we try to stay as connected to our product as we can.

Flower Day, Paul James, and Fall Planting 2008

To say that this is a busy time at Park Seed would be the understatement of the century.  We're in the midst of changing our product lines over to the Fall Planting lineup.  The new catalogs are shaping up, which means page mockups spread all over the building (I've actually got a copy of the Fall Planting 2008 catalog on my desk now: it's beautiful!).  There's new webpages to be designed, copy to be written, and, of course, we're always getting new images together.  It's a really exciting time to be here.  The best part, of course, is getting to know the new plants.  Our horticulturists did a great job this year, and I think that this fall's lineup really is the best we've ever had.  We've really expanded our fall offering of spring-blooming bulbs this year, but that's nowhere near to all of the new plants we've got this year (check out the amazing new 'Superpoppy;' it's better than any poppy I've ever seen).

We're also gearing up for our single biggest day of the year: Flower Day!  Each year we invite all of you to come to our home here at Park Seed so we can show you around.  This day is the heart of the South Carolina Festival of Flowers, and, judging from the way our Trial Gardens look, it may be the best one ever.  Come on down to beautiful Greenwood, South Carolina to visit us; it's a lot of fun to get shown around our killer gardens by some of the best horticulturists in the business (I've been coming since I was a kid).

Maybe the best thing of all this year, we're ecstatic to again welcome Paul James of HGTV's Gardening by the Yard.  He's one of the funniest people on TV (much less gardening television), as well as an amazingly knowledgeable gardener.  The last time he was here for Flower Day we all called him "the Pied Piper" because of the way that all of our other visitors followed him around in huge packs.  He'll be doing a couple of Q&A sessions this year, as well as signing autographs.

Start Thinking About Seed-Starting Now!

Everyone knows that if you want to have a plentiful haul of vegetables, starting your seeds inside over the winter gives you good strong plants early in the spring and lets you maximize your growing season. This is especially helpful when growing indeterminate veggies (the ones that produce fruit throughout the season).

Another big advantage of germinating seeds indoors is increase germination rates. Many seeds are small and fragile and environmental conditions may keep them from producing, but if you start these seeds inside, in a controlled environment, you will greatly increase your chances of getting lots of strong healthy plants.

Now, you can be old-fashioned, starting in Dixie cups or a paper towel on top of the fridge, but many of the modern seed-starting kits will give you really high germination rates and they are lots of fun. Park Seed has plenty of neat seed-starting gadgets, our Park Starts systems work great and are very affordable, but the ever-popular Bio Dome seed starter (we can barely keep these in stock) is a durable tool that you can use season after season if you just replace the growing media sponges (they are super cheap). If you are planning on ordering one of our Bio Domes for this growing season, I would strongly suggest you get your orders in now. I was out in shipping this morning and saw stacks of them headed for the door already, probably for Christmas gifts.

Spring 2008 Catalogs, 140th Anniversary Edition

Spring catalogs are available now. Request your catalog today!

Two brand new catalogs were dropped on my desk last week, our 140 Year Anniversary edition of the Park Seed Spring 2008 and the 2008 Perennials and Shrubs catalog. Both catalogs are full of beautifully bright, colorful pictures of great new plant items and time-tested classics.

140 Years! And it all started with a teenager selling a few seeds to people in his hometown from a small, hand-pressed flier. Now millions of people all over the country wait eagerly every winter for their spring seed catalogs filled will all of the fruits, vegetables, and flowers you could imagine. It still amazes many of the people that have worked here for years. Now Park Seed is one of the top sellers of cutting edge varieties and organic seeds, we have huge turn-outs at our annual Flower Day celebrations, and we are even providing seeds for NASA's Seeds In Space project. Maybe one day we'll even seed Park's seeds on Mars.

A lot has changed in 140 years, and we're still moving forward.

Fun Holiday Garden Gift Collection!

Everything a gardener needs to make the perfect vegetable garden, flower bed, herbs, or sprouts. Park's gift collections are available just in time for the holidays. They include seeds and all the tools needed to succeed in the garden next spring. These make great gifts for seasoned gardeners and novices alike. The seed-starting kits are perfect for teaching curious children how to start their own garden, but they work so well that many veterans will want to try them too.

I have picked two, must-have, favorites from this years gift collection line-up. The herbal tea collection which includes 9 flavors for you to mix and match and a Bio-Dome seed-starter-- this is one gift that is sure to warm you up this winter. My other pick is a popular favorite among Park customers--the portebella mushroom kit. Mushroom kits are fun because you can grow them any time of the year, and you get to impress your guests by telling them your grew your own mushrooms!

Exciting Fall Gardening News

For many of us, it is getting too cold to plant most things, but spring flower bulbs and most trees and shrubs can still go in the ground as long as it isn't frozen. Many of the items on sale could be kept in containers for the winter and transplanted in the spring.

All of our new spring items will be added to the site next week--I will keep you informed on the newest and most interesting items coming up in Park Seeds Spring 2008 line-up.

Gift Certificates For Gardeners

People with hobbies are often easy to buy gifts for because, they make their interests very obvious. The trouble comes when you are not as interested in their hobby. Maybe you don't know enough about it to pick out a nice gift. In times like these a gift certificate can be a life-saver.

If you are not a gardener, but would like to buy a gardening gift for someone in your life who's thumb is a little greener than your own, a gift certificate is the perfect solution. Park Seed has gift cards available--these will be sent to your friends and family in ornate packaging with a complete catalog so they can pick out exactly what they want.

Gardeners will often have a clear vision of their intended garden design and a list of plants they are going to order when they get the time or money, so a gift certificate might be the perfect gift for gardeners looking for live plants.

Fall Planting: A Couple Things To Remember

For many of us there is still a few good weeks of fall planting weather left. This is a great time for planting those flowering shrubs, trees, and flower bulbs. Planting them now will give them plenty of time to establish a strong root system and really show out next spring. There are a couple things you need to keep in mind if you want what you do now to pay off next year.

1. Remember, the sun is in a different place in the sky at different times of the year. A place that has good morning sun now may be in complete shade in the spring. Know your yard, you where your seasonal sunny and shady spots are and plant accordingly.
2. Moniter the moisture level in the soil around your new plantings. Before they have a strong root system they will not be able to take in a lot of water, and it's cooling off--that excess moisture will not evaporate as quickly as it did a few weeks ago. Moniter the moisture levels depending on the needs of your plants--you don't want them to die with root-rot before they ever get to see spring.

Sending Flowers? Send Live Ones

If you are planning on sending someone a flower arrangements, why not send a live plant that can be enjoyed indefinitely. Cut flower arrangements are beautiful but very temporary--you can send a potted plant from Park Seed that will last a lifetime. Your gift will come professionally packaged with a personalized gift message from you.

This is perfect for the Holidays because Park Seed is now shipping amaryllis bulbs that, if ordered now, will bloom inside just in time to make the perfect holiday center-piece. Along with Amaryllis, you should check out the great lie of houseplants and garden accessories. Garden tools and accessories, like birdhouses and seed-starting kits, make perfect gifts for any gardener on your holiday shopping list, but I believe a houseplant is a great gift for anyone, if you pick the right plants. College students and friends and family members who work in offices are always looking for something to make their drab surroundings a little more cozy.

Stevia Rebaudiana: Sweeter Than Sugar

With Coke and Cargill furiously working to get this super-sweet plant made into the form of a marketable, calorie free alternative sweetener, Stevia has been in the news fairly regularly. This dietary supplement is already very popular in many part of the world. Some companies are moving to have it readily available in the US and EU very soon.

Stevia Rebaudiana, also known as "sugar plant" or "sweet herb" is an easy-to-grow herb, that you can keep in your very own kitchen, using it to sweeten teas, coffees, or any number of confections. It is said to be 300 times sweeter than sugar--I'm not exactly sure what units are used to quantify sweetness, but it sure sounds impressive.

I have tried stevia, and I can say that, in tea, it does not have the pasty, metallic after tastes of many artificial sweeteners. It may have a slight bitterness, or liquorice taste, which some people like very much. It's a very fun herb to grow, and makes for excellent conversation with tea guests.